Should you head to the multiplex or read the books?

THE PRESTIGE Christopher Priest (paperback) Writer-director brothers Jonathan and Christopher Nolan skip the ‘95 novel’s modern framing, alter the ending, and amp up the violence between feuding magicians.Last Word The film intrigues, but Priest’s two first-person narratives create more suspense.

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS Augusten Burroughs (paperback) Auteur Ryan Murphy adapts Burroughs’ ‘02 memoir, about being sent to live with his mother’s therapist, rather faithfully, though he trims out various road trips and escape attempts.Last Word The broadly funny film can’t rival the memoir’s razor-sharp humor.